Kabul Attack: Viral Videos Show Explosion; 400 Dead As Pakistan Denies Targeting Hospital

Show Quick Read

Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

Videos purportedly showing a massive explosion at a hospital in Kabul have surfaced online, intensifying scrutiny of recent airstrikes amid the escalating conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The footage, widely circulated on the social media platform X, shows towering flames and thick plumes of smoke rising into the night sky. In separate clips, security personnel can be seen using flashlights to recover bodies, while firefighters battle to contain the blaze.

Heavy Casualties Reported as Kabul Cites Hospital Strike

An Afghan Taliban spokesperson claimed that at least 400 people were killed and over 250 were injured in the strike, describing it as one of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan in recent memory.

JUST IN: 🇦🇫🇵🇰Pakistani jets target Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/ttz5mNfDIB

— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) March 16, 2026

Deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said in a post on X that the strike hit a 2,000-bed hospital in Kabul at around 9 pm local time.

BREAKING: The Afghan health ministry said 200 people were killed and hundreds others injured after Pakistan launched airstrikes on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Pakistan’s government rejected that they struck the hospital, claiming they targeted… pic.twitter.com/LenFAOyyYA

— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) March 16, 2026

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure.

“We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity,” he wrote.

Islamabad Rejects Allegations, Calls Strikes ‘Precision Operations’

Pakistan has firmly denied striking a hospital.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, identified as Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the accusations, stating that no medical facility had been targeted in Kabul.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the military conducted “precision airstrikes” aimed at military installations in Kabul and in Nangarhar Province.

According to him, the operation destroyed “technical support infrastructure and ammunition storage facilities” at two locations in the capital. He maintained that all strikes were carefully directed at sites allegedly used to support militant groups.

Tensions Deepen as Conflict Escalates

The latest developments come against the backdrop of rising tensions between the two countries. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of failing to act against groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which it says operates from Afghan territory. The Taliban-led government has denied those claims.

The strikes mark a significant escalation in hostilities, raising concerns over the stability of the fragile ceasefire along the 2,600-kilometre border.